Paris et l'inspiration Parisienne; from a Sistah's spicy point of view

"Those who have experienced Paris have advantage over those who have not. We are the ones who have glimpsed a little bit of heaven, down here on earth." - Deirdre Kelly

Friday, June 15, 2012

Wine Bottle Plant Waterer

"In every gardener there is a child who believes

in The Seed Fairy." - Robert Brault

As you well know, one of the things I love most about Paris are the flowers and green that suffuse every aspect - literal and figural - of my beloved city. Of course, there's no help for it, I've incorporated every aspect I can - of this gorgeous aesthetic - into my every day life. One of the ways I do this is with my perennial & annual potted garden, on the tiny deck attached to my Atelier (also, see here).

My little deck has an L shape - this is the 'long' main section

I scour my local garden centers (Lowe's, Home Depot, Farmer's Markets, and seasonal road side stands) for regional/pot friendly blooms. I usually have everything potted by Mother's Day, but this year I got a little 'distracted' - preparing for my Paris-May visit. Still, there were plenty of gorgeous blooms awaiting me when I got home: Petunias, SnapDragons, Delphinium, Verbenim, and (the Parisian staple) Geraniums.

This is the long part of the L section, it wraps around one side of my deck.

In the near left-hand side of the photo is my prized table top heater - LOVE!

Well, in my part of the MidWest, it can get mighty hot and regularly experiences long periods of little to no rain. Add to that, my modest deck-pot garden gets nearly allday sun. The greatest challenge of which is to regularly water my nearly dozen pots (usually by hand). One day - while on a Convertible Adventure - I came across a lovely little wine shop in Geneva, IL (I'll devote a special post soon). The outside of this shop has glorious potted plants everywhere! And they all have wine bottles in them - hmmmmm. You know me, I went inside and asked the owner what's the deal with the upside down wine bottles in the potted plants? She told me that they were D.I.Y. irrigators - how she kept her potted plants watered while not watering them everyday. She was kind enough to share her potted irrigation system with me - and today, I decided to put her plan into action in my modest pot-garden - and you know that I have to share...

This D.I.Y. potted plant irrigation system is simple and cheap. All you need is: a few empty wine bottles, gravel or marbles, coffee filters, rubber bands, and water. This project is ultra child friendly. I asked my daughter - Sage - and my youngest son - Never - to help me. The perfect Mamma-Child afternoon project!

Completely clean/rinse your wine bottles

Fill the bottom of the bottle with gravel or marbles,

enough to fill the neck of the bottle.

Fill the bottle with water

Place two coffee filters (one inside the other) over the top of the bottle,